Automating acquisitions with NOTIS: A southern exposure: Acquisitions Librarians/Vendors of Library Materials Discussion Group

A talk at an RTSD Discussion Group, ALA Midwinter, 1988, relates one library's acquisitions experiences in using a fully integrated system. Auburn University Library, an early user of the NOTIS acquisitions package, found the advantages outweighed the difficulties of limited financial functions and reports. The integration of records into one system for use throughout all processes is the principal benefit of the system.     

Evaluating Usage of Monographs

Abstract

Usage is an increasingly important factor in decisions about the funding of library resources. Data for electronic resources and print serials is more likely to be gathered and analyzed than monographic use data. This situation poses a threat to the appropriate funding for monographic acquisitions. A pilot project was designed at the Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries to develop and test a method of producing use reports for monographs purchased in recent years. Despite some unusual challenges, the pilot project proved that retrieval and analysis of data could be performed with readily available software. While the results from the analysis cannot be the sole or main foundation for changes in the collection development of monographs, the use reports provided new insights into the utilization of recent acquisitions and pinpointed weaknesses or strengths of acquisition patterns.     

Making choices: vendors and agents in the assessment process

Vendors and agents have a plethora of reports, databases, and tools that can be used by libraries in support of collection assessment as well as the day-to-day process of acquiring library material. The paper reviews the current status of these tools particularly as they relate to monographic acquisitions including selection, in-print titles, out-of-print titles, and exchange of duplicates and serials acquisitions including management reports, document delivery, and electronic journals.     

Accommodating institutional audit requirements within a liberal arts college integrated library system

By using an electronic spreadsheet in tandem with accounts payable activities in the fund-level-specific acquisitions module of an integrated library system (ILS), a library can assure itself of meeting institutional audit requirements. This additional step of T-ledger “journal” monitoring at the payee level does not involve a great deal of time when compared with the frustration of audit trail reconstruction relying solely on the limited sorting and proprietary data output capabilities of the ILS. In addition, true reconciliation with the institution's Business Office reports through use of this dual methodology provides the library with an accurate as well as timely cash-balance figure at the close of progressive report periods. It also enables budget-expenditure progress to be measured against previous calendar or fiscal year periods for either a random or cumulative average history.     

Out-of-print, out of mind? A case study of the decision to outsource out-of-print acquisitions

This study addresses the question: Can the specialized process of acquiring out-of-print books be outsourced successfully to private vendors? The study reports the results of a case study of the decision to outsource out-of-print acquisitions at LaGuardia Community College in the City University of New York. Data were collected and analyzed regarding acquisitions costs, fulfillment rate, condition of books received, and overall success of the venture. The study concludes that the benefits of outsourcing outweigh the additional expense of vendor handling charges and suggests that libraries can successfully outsource routine tasks while maintaining control over important acquisitions decisions.     

Reorganizing collection development and acquisitions in a medium-sized academic library

The University of Dayton Roesch Library reorganized the collection development and acquisitions departments during 1995 and 1996 in order to improve the collection and make the process of acquiring materials more responsive to the needs of students and faculty. The old organization was department-based, with teaching faculty controlling most of the materials budget. The Associate Director for Technical Services coordinated the funds and supervised acquisitions staff. Perceived imbalances in the collection, student and faculty dissatisfaction with the process, and the desire for public services librarians to have greater influence in collection decisions led to a major reorganization. The new model distributes budget authority among all librarians based on subjects rather than academic departments. It empowers librarians to make purchasing and weeding decisions within their subject areas. Book and periodical acquisitions are combined into a single support unit that reports to the Coordinator and Head of Collection Management. The new organization has streamlined acquisitions processes to make ordering simpler, and the time between ordering and receipt has been shortened. The new model shifts the emphasis from process to service.     

Defining functional requirements for acquisitions records: Vendor metadata

Vendor records are one of the key components underpinning the acquisitions record in the integrated library system. Acquisitions and collection development practitioners increasingly need to record, access, and manipulate acquisitions vendor metadata for purposes not foreseen by the architects of current generation ILSs. The authors posit that vendor records can serve as an appropriate metaphor for the entire acquisitions record in the development of standards. The analysis of data elements and proposed grouping into fields, records, and metarecords suggests a direction for further development and enhanced functionality. The authors call on librarians, systems vendors, and materials vendors to engage in a dialog aimed at creating an accepted standard for vendor records that will meet the needs of all parties.     

Defining functional requirements for acquisitions records: Vendor metadata

Vendor records are one of the key components underpinning the acquisitions record in the integrated library system. Acquisitions and collection development practitioners increasingly need to record, access, and manipulate acquisitions vendor metadata for purposes not foreseen by the architects of current generation ILSs. The authors posit that vendor records can serve as an appropriate metaphor for the entire acquisitions record in the development of standards. The analysis of data elements and proposed grouping into fields, records, and metarecords suggests a direction for further development and enhanced functionality. The authors call on librarians, systems vendors, and materials vendors to engage in a dialog aimed at creating an accepted standard for vendor records that will meet the needs of all parties.     

Report on Travel to Athens,Greece September 9–21, 2006

The author reports on a visit to Athens, Greece, in September 2006 to visit book dealers, libraries, archives, and other institutions with which the Library of Congress has relations, for acquisitions and for collaborative projects in the areas of bibliographic control, microfilming, and digital projects.     

A graphic look at GPO depository distribution: 1975–1993

The American Library Association Government Documents Round Table in the early 1980s prepared statistics guidelines for government documents collections. These guidelines suggested that a collection's federal publications be counted and reported in the same manner as similar materials that are nongovernmental. This paper demonstrates how statistics might be maintained on federal publications acquisitions and holdings to describe trends in GPO depository distribution. Such data included in annual reports may be graphically displayed for comparison over a number of years to show how trends in GPO depository distribution have affected budget and space needs.     

The case for acquisitions standards in the integrated library system

Acquisitions metadata within current library integrated systems is not based on any standard; rather, systems vendors generally define structure and content according to proprietary approaches. The authors argue that this cripples library acquisitions practitioners and managers in numerous ways. It renders routine tasks more difficult, jeopardizes the integrity of data during system migration, forces adoption of costly external tracking solutions, and hinders efforts to manage collections and budgets. The authors define acquisitions standards and relate them to existing bibliographic and e-commerce protocols. They discuss reasons for the lack of acquisitions standards and outline first steps in a project to develop them. This paper is based on a presentation given at the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, Fourth Annual Conference, held 17-20 May 2003.     

Collection development based on patron requests: collaboration between interlibrary loan and acquisitions

Libraries are exploring new models of collaboration between interlibrary loan, collection development, and acquisitions. This paper presents two models in which libraries set aside acquisitions or other funds to purchase books requested by patrons through ILL processes. Workflows, scope criteria, and departmental relationships are described. The article reports on several aspects of the effectiveness of these models, such as turnaround time (comparable to traditional ILL loans), average cost per book ($37.00), and patron satisfaction (very high). The authors also address the subsequent circulation of titles and report on the bibliographers’ analysis of the relevance of the titles to the collection of one of the libraries.     

Impact of organizational structure on acquisitions and collection development

The library’s organizational structure is examined within a framework of acquisitions and collection development. A review of the literature and analysis of data obtained in a survey reveal no clear pattern of an optimal organizational structure to enhance acquisitions and collection development activities.     

An expert system for predicting approval plan receipts

This paper explores the use of expert systems technology in one aspect of library acquisitions, the approval plan profile. The methodologies for determining whether a requested title would be received on approval were encoded in an expert system. The system design and test is described. Some of the advantages to using expert system technologies and the difficulties which were encountered are described. The future potential of expert systems for library acquisitions is addressed. A selected bibliography is included.     

Acquisitions Trip to the Three Baltic States: Estonia,Latvia, and Lithuania,June 3–June 14, 2009

After giving a brief history of Yale University Library's Baltic collection, the author reports on her acquisitions trip to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. She visited exchange partner libraries, bookstores, and book dealers in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, and Tartu. One of her goals for the trip was to set up approval plans with in‐country vendors and exchange partners. She also met with a number of alumni of the Baltic Library Internship at Yale, and some of the librarians who were competing for future internships.     

The business of negotiating for hospital librarians

Although many hospital librarians may find it difficult, negotiating with vendors has become a basic skill of library acquisitions. This article reports the results of a non-scientific questionnaire administered to hospital librarians and vendors attending a chapter meeting of the Medical Library Association in 2003. The answers revealed that vendors regard libraries as businesses, and while admitting that the role is often uncomfortable for them, librarians acknowledged that negotiating skills have become an important aspect of their jobs. Questions to help guide librarians through the negotiation process are provided in the Appendix.     

Regional study of vendor performance for in-print monographs

A regional study conducted by 16 libraries sought to develop a vendor evaluation instrument for acquisitions and collection development librarians to establish acceptable ranges of vendor performance in the North Texas area. Criteria studied included fulfillment, turnaround time, discount, shipping charges, number of reports, cancellations by vendors and problems with vendors. One hundred items were ordered by each library between September 18 and October 13 with the study ending on December 15, 1989. Orders were submitted both electronically and by mail to seven domestic vendors. Fulfillment ranged from 56% to 99%; average turnaround time was 42 days for mailed orders versus 36 days for electronically transmitted orders; and average discount was 4.4% for all orders, ranging from 4.2% to 20.3%. Results provided the participants with data against which they could compare their own vendor's performance.     

Who’s number one?: evaluating acquisitions departments

This paper is a first attempt at articulating the criteria that characterize acquisitions departments at the forefront of book acquisitions. Scoring values were assigned to each of these criteria in an attempt to provide acquisitions practitioners with a framework within which to assess progress on improvements in a numerical way. These criteria are intended to stimulate discussion among acquisitions professionals about ways to improve their own acquisitions operations and to identify high-performing acquisitions departments. This paper was written in the hope of encouraging wider participation in acquisitions discussions among working professionals in the field and to begin the identification of best acquisitions practices.